Victorian/Edwardian Eras - We all know I'm a huge sucker for this subject alone.
Real life murder mystery - Let's just not mention how many serial killer documentaries I've watched, it's bad.
It's not Jack the Ripper - Seriously, anytime a Victorian serial killer is brought up, it's usually Jack the Ripper or H.H. Holmes, so it's nice to have some new material.
 |
| Amazon.com |
It starts like most true crime stories do. Brynhild Paulsdatter Størset (Belle's original name) was a Norwegian immigrant to Chicago, Illinois, during the latter half of the 1800s. She had a seemingly normal childhood, aside from some noticeable character flaws, but nothing that was outside of the norm for that time. She worked, later married, had some children and a buried a couple, adopted another child, and then the husband died under questionable - but not completely mysterious - circumstances.
And that's the first 16 pages of the book.
Her tale is further spun and we follow Belle as she remarries and she moves to Laporte, Indiana, during the early 1900s. The second husband then dies, a succession of hired hands also disappear as well, and her adopted daughter vanishes off to school. No questions are asked, until two key players appear - Ray Lamphere and Andrew Helgelien. Both become Belle's undoing; Lamphere because of petty greed and spite, Helgelien because he had a brother who knew about his plans to wed a certain widow in Laporte.
While it may seem like I'm giving away the key elements, the true mystery of the story lies in that one night, soon after Lamphere had a huge falling out with Belle, and Helgelien arrived with all his assets in cash form only to then disappear, the farm house where she lived with her remaining children caught fire and burned down, leaving none alive. There was however, a multitude of butchered, dismembered bodies that were soon discovered on the farm as officials began to investigate the fire, and Belle's true nature became apparent. Dubbed the Murder Farm, it's believed she killed 14 people for certain, but possibly up to 40, during her lifetime.
 | |
| They always seem so normal. Belle Gunness with her children, from Wikipedia |
Later hailed as the Lady Bluebeard, Belle Gunness was a completely new topic for me, as was the book author, Harold Schechter. Schechter has written other true life crime novels previously, and it shows in the 30 pages of source and research material cited at the end of the book. He seamlessly pulls in quotes and sources to his writing to help support descriptions, eyewitness accounts, and, on occasion, the complete circus that the entire spectacle became at certain points.
As the reader, I was left a little wanting in more information about the mystery of what happened to Belle Gunness. And no, I'm not referring to her backstory that made her become a cold-blooded killer. You are given the trial information and outcome, and all the supporting evidence to Belle's life history, her farm, and what could have possibly happened, but no solid conclusion. Perhaps this is the goal of Schechter though. Based on the initial title, you may feel that the subject is about Belle and her Murder Farm (I did), but in true mystery fashion you find that this is only a red herring and the real question lies in just what exactly DID happen to her?
I guess we'll never know.
3.5 out of 5 - Overall well researched, well written historical context and story, but lacking in answers. At least we now know another famous Victorian/Edwardian serial killer besides Jack the Ripper!
No comments:
Post a Comment